Condensed Matter Physics & Optics

Queen's Condensed Matter Physics and Optics is the largest group in the department, combining strengths in condensed matter physics and light-matter interactions.

In condensed matter physics, the objectives are to provide understanding of the enormously rich behaviour of condensed matter systems under a wide variety of conditions. Systems consist of combinations of the hundred or so elements in the form of solids, quantum dots, small clusters, liquids, and dense gases, and in which the multitude of constituent parts are all interacting with one another. They exist under conditions of temperature ranging from the very lowest imaginable, at which superconductivity and superfluidity occurs, to the boiling point. The application of external fields to the systems allows us to probe the system, studying the electrical and thermal transport, magnetic properties and optical interactions. A growing strength within the group is in optics research and light-matter interactions in optical materials and nanostructures, covering a range of research topics including quantum optics, nanophotonics, spintronics, organic LEDs, scanning probes, and ultrafast nonlinear optics.